Puyallup Fair

The what fair? Yes, this is one of the city names around here that I've had to practice a few times to learn how to say it right. You pronounce it, "Pew-al-up." 

We pulled the kids out of school on their third day so that we could go to the fair on the free admission day. It was a lot of fun!

Dylan was remarkably happy the whole day

Our first experience with elephant ears:

The kids got to go on a few rides. Lindsey and Katelyn anticipating the start:

The look of happiness after her first ride

We ran into the Dolans

Justin and the kids went down the biggest slide I've ever seen

Brandon wasn't so sure going on that roller coaster was such a good idea

My favorite part of the day was watching the free magic show with cotton candy

And of course after a long day of walking it's hard to make it back to the car. Justin was such a good Daddy and carried the two girls back.

Not bad for our first time at the fair!

Toothless

A couple of weeks ago Brandon lost tooth #2 up on the top. It is always an ordeal for him, but we got it out. Then on the 2nd day of school Brandon knocked the other front tooth loose with a basketball. It was not as willing to come out and we struggled with it for 5 hours that night. We finally told Brandon to go to sleep and then next morning he finally was able to get it out. Here is the tooth, hanging on for dear life.

And here is a much happier toothless boy.

Just in time to go to the fair!

Dylan's First Haircut

I knew it was time. First it was the bows in his hair. Then it was the hair in the eyes when he'd pull it down. But the final straw was the dentist mistaking him for a girl. Hmmmm. 

So Brandon held him on his lap while I did my best to cut off his locks. 

The Before:

The After:

Lookin' good Dylan!

First Day of School

I think I'll cry every first day of school. I love having the kids home so much and miss them when they're away. They're growing up way too fast!

Here's my big second grader!

With his friend Makayla from our ward who he is carpooling with

And Miss Lindsey on her way to Kindergarten!

(That backpack is as big as she is!)

And Lindsey with Makayla's sister Karissa on their second day of kindergarten, first day going all by themselves

And Katelyn, who thinks she is ready to go to school too!

Will someone please tell my kids to quit growing up so fast??

Northwest Trek

On Labor Day weekend we went and did Northwest Trek, which is a wildlife preserve. It was so much fun to go on the tram and see animals in the wild close up! The kids had a great time. 

I'll add more pictures from Justin's iPhone when I get them.

Play Set

We took on a huge project at the end of the summer that we are close to finishing now. I found a play set, brand new, still in the box on craigslist for about 40% of the original price. We grabbed it and it's been quite the project. Here are some pictures of the process.

Big helpers

Thank you Ortegas for coming over to lend a hand on a couple of days. We sure appreciate it!

Man, those boards must weigh a TON!

Helpers get ice cream cones for snacks

Since we have a small-ish back yard, we decided to modify the play set and fit it into our side yard.

Helpers take a break to dig in the dirt

And for some odd reason Katelyn felt the need to load up a bunch of our shoes into the wagon and give them a ride around the back yard.

All finished except for the borders and bark on the ground. The kids can wave to me in the kitchen window as they go down the slide.

A cool para scope that actually works, kind of

A steering wheel and extra rope that Brandon made a swing out of

A bench that Justin made with extra wood from the set and our garage to cover up the hole that is supposed to have a ladder attached.

The kids are in love!

Great job Justin!

Flash Mob

I have officially participated in a flash mob and it was awesome! A couple of videos:

Rehearsal

Mob at Kent Station

And on a side note, I sure love these little ladies!

And I love these guys too!
(Brandon feeding Dylan inside of a tent)